#when both tags come for rachel oml

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

11/11/11 tag!

I was tagged by @liesversusjournals and @softwishesx​ so I’ll answer both sets of questions in this post! :)

1. Are you a pantser or plotter?

A pantser! Tho I do a lot of planning lol! My notes doc for REWIRED is 60k words long what why she a whole novel.

2. Do you write using a computer or pen and paper?

A computer!

3. How much writing do you get done on an average day?

Honestly because of school the average lately has been 0/day lol, but if we subtract school, on a good day I used to average about 1-1.5k! On days where I’m struggling I usually get in from 500-700. I haven’t had a consistent enough writing schedule in the last 2 years to calculate this though!

4. Which present work(s) are you the most proud of?

I’m really proud of a few chapters of REWIRED like chapter 9 (Girl), chapter 17 (Julian-Julius), chapter 22 (Younger), and chapter 23 (Bad Habits). I’m also pretty proud of my newest short story Water Burials For the Living. 

5. Which past work(s) are you the most proud of?

I’m honestly really proud of FOSTERED. Even though technically it isn’t very strong, I don’t think I’ve ever been as passionate writing as I was when I first drafted that book. I also am really proud of I’M DISAPPOINTED! I wrote 10 drafts of that baby and think it was pivotal in improving my writing! Book three of FOSTERED also has TEA so I must also include her. 

6. Which present work(s) are you the least proud of?

lols overall I definitely think FOSTERED 5 suuuuuuucks. I think the writing is so... strange? I was definitely making a transition from point a to b and it shows in that book. Tho it isn’t super recent (2016/17 I believe!). 

7. Which past work(s) are you the least proud of?

oml anything that follows the ‘i’m not like other girls’ plot ohhhhh godddddd.

8. Which books/authors have influenced you the most?

When I first started writing, Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy, Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds trilogy, Teri Terry’s Slated trilogy, and The Host by Stephenie Meyer were so important in shaping my work! Recently tho writers like Eliza Robertson, Emma Cline, and Emily Fridlund have been super influential. Also my mom @shaelinwrites​!! Would be v bad at writing if it weren’t for her!!

9. Describe your writing process from when you get the idea to when it’s polished.

Oh boy I don’t think I’ve ever polished something but:

The idea! Usually don’t get many of those so I cling to ‘em like ain’t nobody’s watching

She write (this usually takes 1000x longer than it should ha)

I usually edit as I go, so I loop back to previous chapters to clean stuff up before progressing too far. This is super helpful as a pantser to help me keep my facts straight 

The draft is done!

Developmental edits ensue (I’ve only done developmental edits once but in the past I made a list of things I needed to fix based on character, plot, foreshadowing etc etc)

Line edits + more line edits

10. How many drafts do you write until you feel you’re satisfied with a project?

Honestly I haven’t written multiple drafts of a book since I’M DISAPPOINTED, haha, but if I finish a project, I usually feel pretty okay with it? I don’t have to make tons of tweaks to feel satisfied especially if I’ve been writing it for a few months!

11. If you could re-visit and write in any shelved project, which one would it be and why?

I’M DISAPPOINTED! I actually want to re-write this book so badly but I lowkey forgot how to write YA, so I’d def have to read more of that before even attempting to dive back into that book. I’ve recently gotten some ideas of how to revamp the story (IMO in the way it should have been written) though I doubt this will actually happen!

The next set of questions come from @softwishesx!​

1. What’s your favourite stage of the writing process?

Drafting!

2. What’s your least favourite stage of the writing process?

Developmental edits and sometimes line edits when I don’t know where to start. 

3. What would say is your greatest strength as a writer?

I think I’m pretty good at description/picking out interesting details, maybe just imagery in general?

4. What would say is your greatest weakness as a writer?

Ha clarity lol nothing makes sense in this house!

5. What have you learned about your writing in the last year?

It’s very changeable (no need to stick to just one thing at one time). 

6. Is writing full time something you would like to do or is it more of just a side-hobby?

At this point in my life I don’t think I could write full-time (my organizational skills are v/ poor) but this idea is something I’ve toyed with for sure!

7. Would you ever write a semi-autobiographical book? If so, would you reveal that it is semi-autobiographical?

Probably not! I think there are many lives much more interesting than mine to write about. 

8. What’s your ‘I have to write in this otherwise everything is trash’ font?

I used to draft in Times New Roman but I think high school English essays have scarred me, so I really stan Garamond lol. 

9. Do you read books similar to your WIP for inspiration while drafting?

I don’t read as much as I’d like to, but if I did, I feel like this is something I would do? At least for tone!

10. How many people in your real life know that you’re a writer?

Everyone!

11. What’s one of the best lines you’ve ever written?

Oooh, I don’t think I have a best line, but here are some that I do like:

From chapter 23 (Bad Habits) of REWIRED:

I wanted to bewitch him, and make him admit I wasn’t the performer of black magic, but the magic itself. 

This is the only line that makes me want to keep writing this story (from Music for Poltergeists):

The jitter of taxis bleeds through the shutters and makes patterns on the ceiling. Lois would say, Baby, it’s the Northern Lights.

This is dialogue from the new book (book 7 of fostered which I have yet to title drop on this blog)! Context: Reeve’s brother calls her after she goes MIA for a few months in a new city under a new identity to fill a roommate posting and she be like:  

“It’s an ad for a couch. You can’t both stay on the couch.”

Thank you for tagging me! :)

--Rachel